Bow-control device for automatic cellos or the like



Dec.3, 1929. ILLS 1 738 251 BOW CONTROL DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC CELLOS OR THE LIKE Filed June 4, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 B. E. MILLS Dgc. 3, 1929.

1,738,257 BOW CONTROL DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC GELLOS OR THE LIKE I Filed June 4, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 00 O0 OO n \OOOO 0000 0000 0000 Patented Dec. 3, 1929 PATENT. OFFICE I V BE T n- LMILLS, oro xrAnK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO MILLS NOVELTY COMPANY,

orcn loaoo, rumors, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS BOW-CONTROL DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC CELLOS OR THE LIKE Application filed June 4, 1928. Serial No. 282,735.

.tion will be apparent as it isbetter understood .fromthe followingdescription, whiclntaken inconnection with fthe accompanying draw- .ings -discloses ,a preferred .embodiment thereof. ing. tame-d awin s,

' .l* igur,e 1 is aflbroken elevational VlQW of a tbowmagnet and bow in normalrelationto a string of the instrument; n

Eig.2 is aplan view Qi bhepedals-andassociated' devices ioreontrolling the expression ;.ofthe instrument;

Fig. 3:i,s..a;n el e. jational Vieyvofiheloud pedal and. ass c a edontes s; and

played instrument.

;A tt entionr s called first to the wiring.,dia-

-- gram shown in FigA, which, asiabovestated,

,isfor a hand played instrument, although it is contemplated that "the; instrument may be wir aut ma c pl y n i whic case the contacts would, of course, be n a de through aperforated sheet, lIl2tl1 well .known llnia'nner, the embodiment of lthQ, il'lZQI1tiOI1 shown in the r wing being illustnativ'e only. ljS l Fig-1 I have} ownfdiag amm t ,Qcally} a. seriesfof finger. magnets '16 adapted to c ntrol thefi i-g ri g 'd vices .o v h ins r gment Qwhichma-vhe'substantially as shown in m ht t 25;53.3,sram;e A ust l5',1'922,o io .a y oth r lm wn r Pr fer d .jiform) four 'bowirmagnfibsJ' .beingjalso shown i this. figure anions he eo b ng w r Fig-,1... Tlm eim g t ii sh m-P y strument, are adapted tolbe. energized by Lophtrcts madev by actuation; of the keys of [a keyboard 8, two .contac-tsjbein'g made. by, each key asfind icated bythe; reference characters 9 and 10 in Fig. 4, one of said contacts being in circuit with the finger magnets and the other with the bow magnets, as will be read ily apparent. A bow motor 11, with field 12,

and governor 13, is shown at the upper righthand corner of the diagram and is also shown in Fig. 1. The motor is adapted tobe operated continuously during the playing of the instrument, being in circuit, the positiveline 14 of which is through the contacts, associated with the keys of the keyboardB andit being understood-that there is a suitable switch ,(not

shown) adapted to control this' circuit.

The circuit ,includes resistance elements fromthe resistanceto the bow; magnets 7 and a wire-29-leads fromsaid resistanceto the :bow

negative side, of,the.line,-indicated at 30.

A soft pedalSlis also provided and, as showmhas two positions, one normal and the other neutral. This pedal also connects with the negative sidelof theline. In normal position, it engages a contact 32,-.from which a lead 33 takes into theresistance i5 is through the pedal contact, as itis when ,saidfpedal is in normal position. When the the bow magnet 77, shown in Fig. 1, is mounted Depression of said pedal thus softens I part of which is eliminated when the circuit motor 11, apedal25 being'connected with, the v above a shaft 36, carrying a bow 37 adapted to play a string 38 of a violin or cello. The bow shaft is normally held raised by means of a spring 39, connected at one end to a book 40 on said shaft and at the other end to an arm 41, carried by a bracket 42, which supports the solenoid magnet 7. The core member 43 of the solenoid is adapted to depress the bow shaft 36 when the magnet is energized, said. shaft having a sleeve 44 thereon which is engaged by said core member 43, a guide bracket 45 being provided on the main bracket 42 to guide said shaft as the same is raised or lowered.

The bow shaft is adapted to be rotated by means of the motor 11, to the armature shaft 46 of which said how shaft is geared, as shown at 47.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the pedal 25 is pivoted at 48 to upstanding ears 49 on a bracket 50 secured to the base 51 of a f same 52. The rear end of the pedal lever, identified by the reference character 53, has a lug 54 thereon, which is connected by a spring 55 with the base, thus holding said lever normally in horizontal position. A stop screw 56, carried by said lever, limits the up mo vement of the pedal, and a stop screw 57, carried by the lever forwardly of the pivot 48, limits the down movement thereof.

The soft pedal 31 is similarly mounted and need not be separately described, except with reference to the control 58 thereon, which, as previously mentioned, normally engages the contact 32 and is movable into engagement with the dead contact 34 when the pedal is depressed.

The contacts 26 and 27 on the pedal 25, and the contact 58 on the pedal 31 are yieldingly mounted, being backed by springs 59 within sleeves 60, having caps 61 on the outer ends thereof, and each of said contacts is connected with the negative side of the line by wires indicated respectively by the reference characters 62, 63, and 64.

As previously indicated, the device is operated merely by depressing the pedals during the playing of the instrument. Depression of the soft pedal increases the amount of resistance'in the circuit, thus softening the tone, as has been explained. Depression of the loud pedal 25, however, eliminates resistance from the circuit, causing the bow magnets 7 to exert greater pressure on the bow shafts, thus increasing the tone volume. Such ac tion also increases the speed of the motor 11, and thus the speed of rotation of the bows.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of the parts, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, or sacrificing all of its material advantages,

the construction hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In a stringed instrument of the viol class, the combination of fingering devices, bows, bow magnets, an electric circuit including said magnets and resistance elements, and means operable during the playing of the instrument for varying the amount of resistance in the circuit to control the action of the magnets and thus the pressure of the bows on the strings.

2. In a stringed instrument of the viol class, the combination of fingering devices, rotatable bows, a motor for rotating the same, bow magnets for raising and lowering said bows with respect to the strings, an electric circuit including said motor, said magnets and resistance elements, and means operable during the playing of the instrument for varying the amount of resistance in the circuit to control the speed of the motor and the force of the magnets, thereby regulating the speed of rotation of the bows and their pressure on the strings.

3. In a stringed instrument of the viol class, the combination of fingering devices, bows, bow magnets, an electric circuit including said magnets and resistance elements, and means operable during the playing of the instrument for varying the amount of resistance in the circuit to control the action of the magnets and thus the pressure of the bows on the strings, said means comprising a foot pedal, a series of contacts associated with said resistance elements and a switch element associated with said pedal and adapted to engage said contacts successively as the pedal is depressed to eliminate resistance from the circuit and thereby increase the tone volume.

4. In a stringed instrument of the viol class, the combination of fingering devices, bows, bow magnets, an electric circuit including said magnets and resistance elements, and means operable during the playing of the instrument for varying the amount of resistance in the circuit to control the action of the magnets and thus the pressure of the bows on the strings, said means including a soft pedal and contacts associated therewith and with said resistance and adapted upon depression of the pedal to include additional resistance in the circuit to thereby decrease the tone volume.

5. In a stringed instrument of the viol class, the combination of fingering devices, bows, bow magnets, an electric circuit including said magnets and resistance elements, and means operable during the playing of the instrument for varying the amount of resistance in the circuit to control the action of the magnets and thus the pressure of the bows on the strings, said means comprising a foot pedal, 8. series of Lil contacts associated with said resistance elements and a switch element associated with said pedal andadapted to engage said contacts successively as the pedal is depressed to eliminate resistance from the circuit and thereby increase the tone volume, said means also including a soft pedal and contacts associated therewith and with said resistance and adapted'upon depression of the pedal to include additional resistance in the circuit to thereby decrease the tone volume.

6. In a stringed instrument of the viol class, the combination of fingering devices, bows, bow magnets, an electric circuit including said magnets and resistance elements, and means operable during the playing of the instrument for varying the amount of resistance in the circuit tocontrol the action of the magnets and thus the pressure of the bows on the strings, said means comprising a foot pedal, a series of contacts associated with said resistance elements and a switch element associated with said pedal and adapted to engage said con tacts successively as the pedal is depressed to eliminate resistance from the circuit and thereby increase the tone volume, said means also including a soft pedal and contacts associated therewith and with said resistance and adapted upon depression of the pedal to include additional resistance in the circuit to thereby decrease the tone volume, said soft pedal having two positions and the loud pedal having a greater number of positions, the expression of the instrument being controllable over a range of tone variations corresponding to the combined number of positions of said pedals.

7 In a stringed instrument of the viol.

class, the combination of fingering devices, rotatable bows, a motor for rotating the 7 same, bow magnets for raising and lowering said bows with respect to the strings, an electric circuit including said motor, said magnets and resistance elements, and means operable during the playingof the instrument for varying the amount of resistance in the circuit to control the speed of the motor and the force of the magnets, thereby regulating the speed of rotation of the bows and their pressure on the strings, said means comprising a foot pedal, a series of contacts as sociated with said resistance elements and a switch element associated with said pedal and adapted to engage said contacts successively as the pedal is depressedto eliminate resistance from the circuit and thereby increase the tone volume. I

8. In a stringed instrument of the viol class, the combination of fingering devices, rotatable bows, a motor for rotating. the same, bow magnets for raising and lowering said bows with respect to the strings, an electric circuit including said motor, said magnets and resistance elements, and means operable during the playing of the instrument for varying the amount or resistance in the circuit to control the speed of the motor and the force of the magnets, thereby regulating the speed of rotation of the bows and their pressure on the strings, said means including a soft pedal and contacts associated therewith and with said resistance and adapted upon depression of the pedal to include additional resistance in the circuit to thereby decrease the tone volume.

9. In a stringed instrument of the viol class, the combination of fingering devices, rotatable bows, a motor for rotating the same, bow magnets for raising and lowering said bows with respect to the strings, an electric circuit including said motor, said magnets and resistance elements, and means operable during the playing of the instrument for varying the amount of resistance in the circuit to control the speed of the motor and the force of the magnets, thereby regulating the speed of rotation of the bows and their pressure on the strings, said means comprising a foot pedal, a series of contacts associated with said resistance elements and a switch element associated with said pedal and adapted to engage said contacts successivcly as the pedal is depressed to eliminate resistance from the circuit and thereby increase the tone volume, said means also including a soft pedal and contacts associated therewith and with said resistance and adapted upon depression of the pedal to include additional resistance in the circuit to thereby decrease the tone volume.

10. In a stringed instrument'of the viol class, the combination of fingering devices, bows, bow magnets, an electric circuit including said magnets and resistance elements, and means operable during the playing oi? the instrument for varying the amount of resistance in the circuit to control the action of the magnets and thus the pressure of the bows onthe strings, saidmeans comprising a series of contacts associated wlth said resistance elements and means for making said contacts as desired to control the expression of the instrument.

' 11. In astringed instrument of the viol class, thecombination of fingering'devices,

bows, bowfimagnets, an electric circuit including said magnets and resistance elements, and means including a pressure-actuated member operable at will during the playing of the instrument for varying the amount of resistance in'the circuit to control the action of the magnets and thus the pressure of the bows on the strings.

In witness whereof. I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification.

BERT E. MILLS.

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